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Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.

The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.

Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least seven other prescription drugs, and all of these combination pills will be banned if the Food and Drug Administration heeds the advice of its experts. Vicodin and its generic equivalents alone are prescribed more than 100 million times a year in the United States.

Laureen Cassidy, a spokeswoman for Abbott Laboratories, which makes Vicodin, said, “The F.D.A. will make a final determination and Abbott will follow the agency’s guidance.”

The agency is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it usually does.

Wow.

One would think that the immediate result of such a ban would be a spike in the use of Oxy and Hydrocodone.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

Re: Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

This is a wee bit off topic, but anyone who, for whatever reason, is taking large doses of Tylenol or other medications with acetaminophen should be aware that there is some scientific evidence indicating that milk thistle can help protect against acetaminophen's hepatoxic effects.

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been used for 2,000 years as an herbal remedy for a variety of ailments, particularly liver problems. Several scientific studies suggest that substances in milk thistle (especially a flavonoid called silymarin) protects the liver from toxins, including certain drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), which can cause liver damage in high doses. Silymarin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and it may help the liver repair itself by growing new cells.

Re: Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

Originally Posted by celticlord

This is a wee bit off topic, but anyone who, for whatever reason, is taking large doses of Tylenol or other medications with acetaminophen should be aware that there is some scientific evidence indicating that milk thistle can help protect against acetaminophen's hepatoxic effects.

This is actually a really good thing to point out. When I helping contribute to various harm reduction groups that's something that was brought up quite a bit for the opiate users. Acetaminophen is probably one of the most dangerous drugs commonly used, even by not non-recreational users/addicts.

Re: Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

Acetaminophen is something you'd want for a fever not for pain. Take some tylenol the next time you break a bone and see how well it works.

Acectominophen (paracetamol) most certainly serves as a pain reliever.

Paracetamol is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer). It is commonly used for the relief of fever, headaches, and other minor aches and pains, and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies. In combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioid analgesics, paracetamol is used also in the management of more severe pain (such as cancer or postoperative pain).

...

Paracetamol is usually classified along with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID), but is not considered one. Like all drugs of this class, its main mechanism of action is the inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX), an enzyme responsible for the production of prostaglandins, which are important mediators of inflammation, pain and fever. Therefore, all NSAIDs are said to possess anti-inflammatory, analgesic (anti-pain), and antipyretic (anti-fever) properties.

The reason why drugs like Vicodin use it is because it allows for a reduced amount of hydrocodone to be used, thus reducing the negative side effects while maintaining the positive results.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

Re: Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

Acectominophen (paracetamol) most certainly serves as a pain reliever.

The reason why drugs like Vicodin use it is because it allows for a reduced amount of hydrocodone to be used, thus reducing the negative side effects while maintaining the positive results.

Please show me where I said it had no analgesic qualities.

And your reason for why it's used so often in opiate pain killers does not satisfy me. More people are killed and suffer serious internal injuries as a result of acetaminophen enough in my opinion to warrant taking it out of the drug than leaving it in to save on the cost of producing opiate painkillers. The negative side effects of using acetaminophen are severe and numerous, the benefits of keeping in the medication are really quite minimal by comparison.

And for people taking opiate pain killers that were marred by combining it with acetaminophen, there are ways to remove the acetaminophen very easily and simply using nothing but water.

Re: Panel Recommends Ban on 2 Popular Painkillers

One would think that the immediate result of such a ban would be a spike in the use of Oxy and Hydrocodone.

Reducing the dose will only force people to take more pills. This action changes nothing because it doesn't address the person's pain, which is why they were taking so damn much of the drug to begin with.